Trainer Subhag Singh always has an ace up his sleeve when he sends that
dark bay colt by Diffident out of Brave Ballerina, curiously named Three
of Arts, out to compete in a race. In his last two visits to the
racetrack Three of Arts has made Annot his bunny and provided a rich
harvest for those who backed him.
Annot started her Pune campaign in style showing a clean pair of heels
to her rivals twice. Subsequently, the C. D. Katrak trained filly has
lost her sheen and has succumbed meekly to Three of Arts. Three of Arts
meanwhile has also shown scant respect for the handicapper and succeeded
in defying his assessment thrice after graduating at Bangalore in Arjun
Mangalorkar’s care.
The weight difference between Annot and Three of Arts in the 1000 metre
Shantidas Askuran Trophy vis-à-vis their last encounter was expected to
help the filly avenge her defeat. The bookies harboured a similar view
and Annot remained their odds-on choice until the eight-horse field left
the paddock and the floodgates of smart-money burst open. Three of Arts
didn’t have to go looking for suitors in the betting ring as they came
in herds to lay a bet on him.
P. Kamlesh settled Annot behind Royal Hunt and Dunbar who, surprisingly,
made the early pace and were joined by Fire God later. Colm O’Donoghue
astride Three of Arts experienced a few trying moments from the wayward
Oscar Star after jumping out but recovered soon. He avoided any further
damage by taking the wide route home. Three of Arts’ gradual progress
brought him abreast of Annot, who was still racing on the bit. The
Irishman put his head down and worked hard on Three of Arts to pounce on
the leaders which he did but not before cutting across Annot’s path.
Kamlesh wanted to be compassionate hence drove Annot plain hands and
heels when O’Donoghue was in a dominating mood. Three of Arts eventually
won comfortably from Annot and Royal Hunt. Apprentice D. K. Ashish
probably misunderstood Hormuz Antia’s riding instructions on Oscar Star
and rode the mare like a rodeo boy. The runs of Annot, Fire God and
Oscar Star need to be ignored.
Niall McCullagh got two riding engagements from Pesi Shroff and he kept
both his own as well as his master’s kitty swelling by steering them
effectively. The odds against Secret Garden kept climbing since morning
and reached 2 to 1 against to set off alarm bells. The daughter of
Razeen out of Habitizia however remained unconcerned throughout the mile
journey. She called the bluff of Here Comes The Don in the straight and
took charge of the running. Niall then powered Secret Garden to keep
both Cincinnati and Ishtar at bay. Ishtar sucked in a lot of money that
came her way but failed to live up to the expectations of all.
Royal Princess (Royal Kingdom – Tiddly Widdly), who was hot favourite to
win the Loyal Manzar Trophy, survived a major scare from her major
adversary Elmwood. Royal Princess began accelerating only when the field
was brought into the home stretch by Scarsdale. Elmwood was ridden off
the pace by Malcolm Kharadi and alerted to his task when skirting the
false rails. Elmwood devouring run found him breathing down the
neck of Royal Princess. It was the experience of Niall and his
purpose-driven ride that made the difference as Royal Princess kicked on
to frustrate Elmwood. Zephyrella and Scarsdale completed the frame.
Although he was not riding for the first time, jockey Mallesh Narredu’s
return to the saddle become some sort of an event for many racegoers.
Mallesh however kept his poise and made a successful comeback with Fiery
Fortune becoming his special-purpose-vehicle. Mallesh chose to bring
Magansingh Jodha trained Fiery Fortune (Hymn – Sparkling Champagne)
through rails after Landlord shifted out to provide him enough room to
manoeuvre. Fiery Fortune registered his maiden win with Landlord,
Artillery and Behaving Badly finishing in that order.
Virginia Woolf (Storm Trooper – Scarborough) from Vijay Kasbekar’s barns
denied Mallesh a brace when Raju Singh found the filly responding
gallantly to his call and got the measure of Lunar Queen, the favourite
who shaping as a winner, close home.
Trainer Nina Lalvani found succour in the victory of Star Girl
(Diffident – Mizvicki) after seeing two runners from her yard, Landlord
and Cincinnati, play the bridesmaid’s role. Star Girl assumed her
customary front-running role and finally managed to catch the judge’s
eye first to provide the 5kg-claimer Raju Singh a double. Despite
conceding over 10kg to the Star Girl, the Shiraz Sunderji saddled
favourite appeared to be in the process of collaring her in the shadow
of the winning post but that turned out to be an illusion. The RWITC
Stipes were apparently not convinced by Call To Arms’ performance and
the fact that Harish lost his whip in the last 50m. It is reported that
they will be looking into this matter. Ancient Princess never recovered
after being inconvenienced by Call To Arms at the start and ended sixth.
The concluding race was claimed by Rising Warrior (Concordial –
Insatiable), who was given a confident ride by trainer Altaf Hussain’s
nephew Riyaz Shaikh. Sound of Silence tried to bridge the gap in the
straight but found the winner too good. Black Warrior finished on when
all was over to prevent Acceptance a place in the money. King’s Desire
seemed to have lost all the interest at the gates itself after throwing
tantrums during the loading process. He was in the vanguard along with
Acceptance before retiring a close fifth.
